Kaitlan Collins Grills Border Czar on Kilmar Abrego Garcia: ‘So… Nothing Has Been Done to Bring Him Back?’
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins interrogated White House border czar Tom Homan over the fate of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran national and Maryland father who was deported last month.
Abrego Garcia is being incarcerated in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, despite not being convicted of a crime, and a 2019 order from an immigration judge barring his removal to the country. The Trump administration has alleged that he is a “terrorist” in the infamous MS-13 gang. Several courts have ruled that he should not have been deported to El Salvador, culminating in last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding a lower court decision instructing the administration to facilitate his return. However, the White House maintains that Abrego Garcia’s fate is in the hands of the Salvadoran government, which it is paying to imprison him and more than 250 other deportees.
Homan appeared on Thursday’s edition of The Source on CNN.
“Judge [Paula] Xinis has been criticizing the government this week for what she says is doing, quote, ‘nothing to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States,'” Collins noted. “Are you personally aware of any steps that have been taken to facilitate his return to the United States?”
“Look, I think he’s a citizen of El Salvador,” Homan replied. “He’s in El Salvador, he’s home. He’s an illegal alien with a final order of removal. He’s an MS-13 member, which is now classified as a terrorist. So, we removed an illegal alien, MS-13 member who has a final order of removal issued by an immigration judge to his homeland.”
“So, should I read that as to say nothing has been done to bring him back to the United States?” Collins pressed. “That’s what it sounds like.”
“I can’t speak to everybody in the administration,” Homan said. “I can just tell you what my stance is, and I think we did the right thing. I think he’s where he should be. And the order withholding that everybody keeps talking about, order withholding, you set aside because he’s a designated terrorist.”
As they spoke, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele posted photos of Abrego Garcia chatting with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who traveled to the country to try to secure his release. The senator also reported on his meeting, stating, “I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.” However, the news did not make it into the CNN segment.
Watch above via CNN.
